


green (I hope you're well)

by mustangsgloves



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: "falling for you" adjacent, F/F, F/M, Katara is wise and takes no shit but what's new, Korrasami Valentine Exchange, Love Letter B, pining pining pining, they're idiots and they're in love, you just might catch some callbacks here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29520132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustangsgloves/pseuds/mustangsgloves
Summary: sending those first few letters Korra wrote back to Asami were some of the most stressful moments of Korra's life...and she was the Avatar // Asami remembers something from before Korra left and acts accordinglyaka, they're both realizing they're falling for their best friend and handling it very differently, but mainly with their letters and panicking, respectivelyfor the Korrasami Valentine Exchange 2021, for the prompt Love Letter B
Relationships: Kataang mentions, Korra/Asami Sato, Korrasami
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	1. I hope you're well

**Author's Note:**

> (title and inspiration from 'Green' by Cavetown)
> 
> this fic is somewhat of an addition or extra to "falling for you" - while it's not necessary to read that one first, you might find a few callbacks that are included in this piece
> 
> comments and feedback are very much appreciated, even if it's a short one!! makes my day :)

With so many facets of her life having been upturned, Asami found solace in the small things: Bolin's weekly letters, dinners with Tenzin and his family on Air Temple Island, daily walks or workouts, wingsuit testing, and the occasional correspondence with Mako or Opal. Yet perhaps her favorite small thing was the way the vase in her office at Future Industries was never empty. Despite everything, all the chaos and demands of the city and the Air Nation, it seemed that Tenzin somehow managed to continue organizing the flower delivery that occurred every two weeks. Call her simple, but Asami loved the fact that even after almost two years, it was still moon lilies every time.

Moon lilies reminded her of Korra.

Try as she might've, the Avatar had not been great at hiding the fact that she was the one who had bugged Tenzin to send the flowers. The day after their first sparring match, a small bouquet of moon lilies had shown up at her office to fill the empty vase on Asami’s desk that Korra had noticed while she had been bending the water in the glass bottle. At first Asami had tried to decline, saying she was perfectly capable of buying her own flowers, but Korra had been adamant, citing that as the Avatar she had a duty to make sure that Republic City's biggest innovator had what she needed – and that it was also good for her to learn how to budget her yuans seeing as there hadn't been much need for that before she left the Southern Water Tribe.

Looking back, Asami should've figured out that getting butterflies when your friend does things like send you flowers isn't really a normal friend thing – but she hadn't had a lot of those growing up, so she hadn’t quite had the chance to catch on...so sue her.

Now, Korra had finally written her back and Asami found the other girl on her mind more than ever. The engineer sat at her desk, idly spinning the pen she had been using to mark up some minor edits for the wingsuits that would hopefully act as a failsafe in dangerous situations like the one Kai had gotten himself in up in the Earth Kingdom with Opal and those bandits. The flowers on her desk were fresh, having just arrived that morning, and Asami relished the scent – clear, bright, and inexplicably reassuring.

Sighing, Asami pushed away from her desk and stood up, walking over to the large windows that faced Yue Bay, and gazed at the horizon. She gently hugged herself as she looked at the city lights shimmering off the dark water beneath the night sky. A scant few stars shone bright enough through the clouds, and Asami found her thoughts wandering back to Korra, as had become custom during the Avatar’s lengthy absence from Republic City after her fight with the Red Lotus almost two years prior.

Late nights had also become custom for Asami. Between her multiple projects: fixing Republic City’s damaged infrastructure, air wingsuits, the new Avatar park, and maintaining correspondence with her friends throughout the world, the engineer found her days busy and tiring. She spent almost every waking moment working on something, but she made sure to give herself some time either in the mornings or evenings to sit and enjoy the view from her office, have a cup of tea…and read the words she received from Korra.

It had taken Korra over a year to write Asami back. Asami would be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t felt like giving up on her almost daily letters to the Avatar, but even if her brain told her that rationally it was likely that she could just stop and it wouldn’t be a problem, her heart had ached and twisted at the thought.

So Asami had kept writing.

Even with her ridiculous schedule, she took the time, she _made_ the time. At first, she tried to not think too much of it. Why would it mean anything significant? Korra was, _is_ , her best friend, and she had just undergone an incredibly traumatic event, so of course Asami cared, and of course she wanted to show that concern, and of course she wanted to tell Korra about her day and how much she wished the Avatar was there and….

…and it took months and some self-reflection and gentle nudging from Opal during their sporadic lunches and in her weekly letters for Asami to realize she was falling in love with her best friend.

And as much as that scared her…Asami kept writing.

Even when the year mark of Korra’s absence had passed without getting any response from the other girl, Asami hadn’t been able to keep herself from sitting down at her desk in her office, picking up her pen, and telling Korra about her day while she enjoyed the unique fragrance of the moon lilies.

> _Dear Korra,_
> 
> _I miss you, it’s not the same in Republic City without you. How are you feeling? Things are going well here. I just got a big contract to help redesign the city’s infrastructure, so I’ll be keeping pretty busy for a while…_


	2. I guess I got to my head

Sending that first letter back to Asami had been one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of Korra’s entire life – which had to be saying a lot, since she was the Avatar and all. Part of her was shocked that Asami was still writing to her, even after a year and a half of nothing in response, and the other part wasn’t – it was Asami, the most understanding, caring, selfless and loyal person she knew…of _course_ she was still writing Korra.

Mako and Bolin’s letters had both dropped off in frequency, not that Korra could really blame them. But oddly enough, she felt more guilty about the fact that _anyone_ was still sending her letters at all, let alone at the consistency that Asami was. When she had brought it up at dinner one night when it was just her and Katara, the older woman had gotten a bright glint in her eye and a sad smile had crossed her face. Korra had backtracked almost immediately…

“Oh, Katara,” she continued quickly. “I didn’t mean to…I didn’t mean to upset you, I –”

The waterbending master just chuckled. “You didn’t my dear,” she offered. “You may not think it, but I’m quite perceptive…eighty plus years on this earth will do that to you.”

Korra snorted. “I may be an idiot sometimes, but I’m not dumb enough to underestimate you Master Katara.”

Katara sighed happily, “ah, now there’s a name that I haven’t heard for a while.” She fixed her gaze on Korra and shot her a sly grin. “You know, Aang used to call me that, when we were much younger.”

Korra felt a familiar shift in the feeling of the conversation, one that was commonplace in her childhood when she and her parents would spend evenings with Katara, and sometimes even Tenzin and his family. Stories would be shared, and the warmth of the room always seemed to come from more than just the roaring fireplace.

“Aang used to call you ‘Master Katara’?” Korra repeated incredulously. “I mean this respectfully, but…isn’t that a little weird?”

“Oh please, Korra,” Katara admonished her softly. “Before Aang and I were together, we were very good friends. I _was_ the one who taught him how to waterbend – I still remember how mad I was that he was so good at it so quickly! But yes, ‘Sifu Katara’ was a role I took on for some time, a time which may or may not have involved an old water bending scroll that we borrowed from pirates…”

“You mean stole?” Korra teased.

“Well, they were the ones who stole it in the first place! We were simply taking back what wasn’t theirs to begin with. Aang didn’t agree at first, but once we got going with the different forms he quickly came around. The octopus was a favorite of his.”

“I remember you teaching me that!” Korra exclaimed. “It’s still one of my favorites, I’ve shown my friends in Republic City before when we were relaxing on Air Temple Island – Ikki likes to ask for me to do that one, especially when Aunt Kya is around to do it too.”

Katara smiled. “Yes, my daughter did learn from that scroll as well. She likes to use all sorts of the forms from it…” she paused. “But speaking of your friends, wasn’t there something you wanted to ask me?"

“Oh I…well…” Korra trailed off. She looked at the older woman who simply laughed. “Why do I have a feeling you know what I’m going to ask?”

Katara shook her head fondly, “I don’t, exactly, but I think I have a good idea. You wear your heart on your sleeve, Korra, you always have…it doesn’t take a genius to read you.”

Korra snorted, and promptly choked on air at Katara’s next words.

“First off, tell me more about Asami, won’t you?”

Fighting down the initial urge to deny and deflect, Korra sat there quietly for a few moments, watching as Katara calmly sipped her tea with closed eyes. Leaning back in her seat, Korra forced herself to answer Katara’s question, despite the nerves in her stomach.

“I mean…she’s my best friend,” Korra managed. She was grateful that Katara kept her eyes closed for the moment. “She’s loyal, kind, smart, caring and brave…she’ll kick anyone’s ass, including my own. And I trust her, completely. Does that help?”

“Well, yes,” Katara said, finally opening her eyes to look at Korra once again. “But I already knew all of that. After all, she made quite the impression when she singlehandedly brought your father back to safety during Harmonic Convergence, and even helped me look after Jinora’s body. But why do you feel guilty, Korra?”

“I don’t know,” Korra replied abruptly.

Katara gave her a pointed look. “You owe it to yourself to honest, Avatar. Ignoring your feelings is never a great strategy, but we’ve gone over this before.”

“With waterbending, yeah I remember. My body and my emotions are connected, I know,” Korra said with exasperation, spreading her hands in front of her.

“So let your renewed strength with the elements flow into your feelings. When those exist together you’ll find that your entire spirit will strengthen, your path to healing will become easier.”

“Have you been talking to Iroh?” Korra asked, only somewhat kidding. “Because this sounds like something he’d say.”

Katara laughed gently. “A wonderful and comforting compliment, but I haven’t, no. I never quite understood the spiritual stuff like Aang did.”

Korra nodded, “the spiritual stuff is hard, I wish I had the knack for it like Aang or Jinora, or even Tenzin.”

“You’ve grown so much spiritually already, I’ve seen it, and so have your mentors and friends,” Katara countered. “Now back to the issue at hand, Korra. What’s on your mind?”

“Asami,” she blurted…and promptly felt her face flush. “I mean – I…yeah, no…it’s Asami.”

Katara simply smiled with an aura soft understanding. “And you feel guilty regarding Asami, how, exactly?”

Korra felt her heart twist and her last barrier of defense against her emotions melt away. Her voice full of pained honesty, she explained: “she’s sent me at least one letter _every_ week since I left Republic City, Katara… _every week_. More often than not, it’s a few a week, and I just don’t deserve that, I mean…until the other day I hadn’t written her back at all, and I still haven’t even gotten up the nerve to send it! And it’s not that I don’t love getting her letters, it’s just…over a year and a half of no responses? She doesn’t deserve that, she’s worth more than that and I haven’t shown her that at all. I don’t know why she doesn’t just forget about me and move on – do all the amazing things she’s doing for the city and the Airbenders…she’s so incredible and yet she’s wasting time writing to _me_. I’m useless, I’m the Avatar and I can’t even go into the Avatar state!”

Korra swiped angrily at her eyes, rubbing away tears that had gathered there and threatened to fall.

“Korra,” Katara said firmly. “Look at me.”

Korra acquiesced, lifting her tear-blurred gaze to meet the older waterbender’s.

Katara’s expression was a perfect mixture of gentle and resolved, a balance that only she ever seemed to be able to strike so effortlessly.

“Who stopped Unavatu in Republic City during Harmonic Convergence?” Katara asked.

Korra frowned, confused by the apparent change in subject. “I did, I guess? Jinora was there though, she did a lot of it,” she said slowly. “But I don’t get how –”

“And how did you do that?” Katara interrupted. “Putting Jinora’s help aside for the moment.”

“I meditated,” Korra responded. “But Katara, I –”

“Korra,” Katara said pointedly, and the Avatar cut herself off, allowing the older woman to continue. “You didn’t just meditate, Korra,” she said. “That was no Avatar state power you used, that was all _you_. It was your _spirit_ , the purest and most fundamental parts of _you_ are what saved this world. You were even willing to sacrifice yourself to save the Air Nation – that was a decision _you_ made; your bravery saved so many.”

“Katara what –” Korra stopped mid-sentence, willing her temper to cool. She continued, almost desperately. “I mean this respectfully…but I just don’t understand what you’re trying to say? What do you mean by all this?”

Katara sipped her tea with a small smile. “You Avatars…so powerful, awe-inspiring, and intelligent…and yet it takes me telling you exactly what I mean for you to get it. You remind me of my brother.”

Korra couldn’t help the huff of affectionate laughter that escaped her…Sokka had been an important part of her life growing up…for Katara to mention her brother meant a lot.

“A little bit of spelling out would be appreciated,” Korra offered.

Katara sighed. “You are so much more than the Avatar, Korra. And even now with the challenge you are facing with the Avatar state – and you will get there – beyond that, you are not defined by _what_ you are, but by _who_ you are. Yes, you are the Avatar…but first and foremost, you are Korra – an incredible young woman from the Southern Water Tribe – and those closest to you will recognize that and celebrate it.”

Korra felt her throat constrict, but not in the way it had earlier when she was upset. No, this lump was definitely because of Katara’s kind words. She swallowed thickly. “And um…what does this all have to do with Asami?”

“Your family, mentors, and friends, especially Asami, they all know who you are. She _sees_ you, Korra. She cares about _you_. This isn’t to say that she doesn’t care about you as the Avatar as well, but to try to get you to see how deserving you are of her affection and support, along with everyone else’s.”

“Oh.” It’s all Korra could really say, given the circumstances. “So I shouldn’t feel guilty? And it’s okay to think about Asami?”

“Spirits,” Katara muttered, eyes glancing upwards. “Correct, on both accounts.”

Korra paused, pouting her lip slightly as she considered her next words. “So…thinking about my best friend as often as I do and pouring over her letters and wanting to write her back and tell her how I really want to see her again and how I’ve fallen for her is okay?”

Katara blinked. “Korra…” she began. “And, as you say, I mean this respectfully…but take a second to think about what you just said and well…maybe consider if “best friend” is the appropriate term here?”

“What do you mean saying she’s my best friend isn’t the appropriate –”

And then it hit her… _how I’ve fallen for her_.

“Oh.” Korra managed.

Katara grinned conspiratorially. “‘Oh,’ I think, is right, my dear.”

Korra rubbed the back of her neck. “So…what now?” she asked sheepishly.

“Well, I think it’s time you sent that letter you wrote.”

> _Dear Asami,_

> _I’m sorry I haven’t written to you sooner, but every time I’ve tried I never knew what to say. The past two years have been the hardest of my life. Even though I can get around fine now, I still can’t go into the Avatar State. I keep having visions of Zaheer, and what happened that day. Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I’ve been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry that I’ll never fully recover. Please don’t tell Mako and Bolin I wrote to you and not them. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but it’s easier to tell you about this stuff. I don’t think they’d understand…_


	3. take care of my shirt, warm and red

After the first few letters from Korra, it seemed like some sort of dam in the other girl broke – each consequent message held a little less uncertainty, a little less sadness, and a little less silence. Asami could physically feel her relief as Korra’s old spark became clearer and brighter in her responses. It showed most in the little things, but the engineer noticed nevertheless:

> _I know you’ve been working on redesigning Republic City’s infrastructure, hopefully that’s going well! I am sorry about those vines, but to be fair, it wasn’t exactly my fault…it’ll just make driving that much more exciting, I guess?_
> 
> _Katara and I worked on some more advanced healing techniques today, stuff I’ve never learned before, it’s pretty cool. I’m still not as good as her, or Kya (who has also been helping), but it’s nice to be able to be getting better at something new._
> 
> _Mako sent me a letter the other day, somehow still as awkward as ever. I know he got less weird around us, thank spirits, but it still feels like he’s saluting in some of his signoffs. I swear I can picture it, Asami. He’s finally stopped talking about the weather though, so that’s something._
> 
> _You didn’t tell me about the Airbender wingsuits! Jinora mentioned it in her most recent letter. She’s very impressed by them, says they’re a huge help. She also said that Kai looked super cute in his, so I guess you’re helping young love grow. I’d watch out if I were you, I don’t think you want Tenzin finding that out. Now I know the color scheme is red, yellow, and grey…but I’m thinking that if I get one, it would have to be blue, obviously._

But the progress – as heartening as it was – definitely wasn’t linear. It was a few months into their correspondence that Korra opened up about the Avatar State…or lack thereof.

> _I don’t get it, Asami. I can walk again, bend mostly like I could before…but the Avatar State is completely inaccessible to me. I don’t know why. I feel like a failure, I mean, what good is an Avatar without the Avatar State? Even if I could get into it, I don’t know if I’d want to. I mean, honestly? I’m scared. All I can think of is the poison, and Zaheer…that’s the last time I was in it. I don’t know what to do. I’ve talked to Katara, and she doesn’t have any ideas either. It’s been over two years…what if I never get it back? I don’t know what to do at all…what do you think?_

What was even worse was that in her next letter, Korra completely wrote off her previous worries, which should’ve been a good thing, but Asami could tell it was a defense mechanism more than anything else. Not that that in and of itself was a problem, but this clearly wasn’t something that Korra could just brush off, that much was clear from her original letter when she first shared the information with the CEO. This was eating at the other girl, and for all the progress she’d made, Asami could tell that Korra was quick to write it off due to the lack of the Avatar State…which Asami wouldn’t stand for.

> _Korra, I can’t imagine what you’re going through with the Avatar State, but I want you to remember I’m here for you. If it’d be helpful to talk, or anything, I’m just a letter away._
> 
> _In terms of what to do? I guess my best advice is don’t give up, cheesy, I know, but true. I might not be the Avatar or understand the Avatar State fully, obviously, but I do know a bit about what it’s like to lose something and feel terrified without it. But something I want to remind you of is that you’re the Avatar with or without the Avatar State, and maybe that’s not helpful to hear, but I also truly believe you’ll find how to get it back again. You’ve faced unbelievable challenges and come out of each even when the odds were against you, and that’s something I love about you. If I could design something to help you, I would, immediately and no questions asked. I don’t even remember where I was going with this but…I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m here and I know you will figure this out – you always do._

> _There’s no graceful way to change the subject, so I’ll just use this slightly awkward filler sentence to do so. I had dinner at Air Temple Island last night, Meelo wanted to have Poki sit at the table for the meal, but that was quickly shut down by Pema. Rohan is getting so big! His hair is coming in thick, and Meelo is growing his out too “in solidarity,” he says._

Asami hadn’t realized she said “something I love about you” until after she had sealed and sent the letter. She debated whether it’d be worth it to track it down and burn it, which she was sure she could do just using the heat from her face once she realized, but thought better of it. Love wasn’t an inherently romantic word…right? For spirit’s sake, she signed her letters to both Bolin _and_ Mako with “Love, Asami” and she wasn’t romantically involved or interested in either of them. So…why did this feel so different?

The voice in the back of her head told her it was because of the exact fact that she _was_ interested, but she pushed that thought down. It was only a few letters later that she allowed herself to entertain that realization again.

> _Dear Asami,_

> _I hope you know your letters really do make my days better. I’m glad to hear that the train station renovation is going well! I’m sure Raiko is happy about that, not that he deserves anything good, but obviously you were gonna do a great job with that project. Where are the trains running to right now? I asked my dad, and he said it sounded like there was one headed to Ba Sing Se, that’s pretty impressive!_
> 
> _I was going through some boxes my mom had set aside for me earlier today, and found the weirdest thing…it was actually, well…one of your old shirts. Now don’t ask me how it got here, I don’t know. Well, I guess I have some ideas, but nothing for sure. I mean, you were here a few years back, for the Glacial Spirits Festival, or I guess more so to try to deal with Varrick. I guess also at Harmonic Convergence when you got my dad home safe…I don’t know but long story short, you left one here. It’s red, which makes sense, soft and long sleeved. It even kind of smells like your perfume, which is weird since it’s probably a few years old, but I guess sitting in a box will do that? Anyways, I’m happy to send it back to you in Republic City, if you want?_
> 
> _Oh, it snowed here today! Spirits, now I sound like Mako. But it was exciting, the world is so peaceful when the flakes fall, it was really calming._

Asami had read that paragraph at least four times in a row, and the heat in her face and the knot in her throat didn’t disappear even after the fifth time.

She finished reading the letter hours later, after going to eat dinner at Air Temple Island – where she ended up staying the night – and working on a design for an electrode belt, just in case the need for one ever arose – better safe than sorry.

A little delirious with lack of sleep, stress, and emotions, Asami sat down at the desk in her adopted room on the island – the same one that Korra had showed her to years before – and pulled out a pen and some paper.

> _Dear Korra,_

Asami paused. ‘Dear Korra’ what? ‘I think I’m in love with you’? No, that’s ridiculous. ‘I have feelings for you’? Also no. Yes, Korra was smart, but sometimes she missed things if they were too subtle. ‘I like you’? Spirits no, what was she, a fourteen-year-old with a crush? (She ignored the voice in her said that said “yes” to that).

Asami must’ve written twenty different iterations of her feelings before coming to the sobering conclusion that it’d be best to not say anything at all.

The other girl was going through the hardest years of her life, who was she to add to that unbelievable stress and hopeless feeling of being lost inside yourself? What if Asami told Korra how she felt and then the Avatar _never_ came back to Republic City? Not only would that be devastating for Asami, but it’d be unfair to the city and the _world_.

No, she’d keep this to herself, even if it hurt to do so. She was first and foremost there to support Korra, so she couldn’t mess it all up by admitting to a crush.

(More than a crush, the voice said. Asami ignored it).

A different voice, one that sounded more like what she remembered her mom’s to sound like, spoke more softly but also with more conviction… _You deserve to be happy, too, Asami_.

Taking a deep breath, Asami made her final decision. She owed it to herself to try, but she didn’t have to do it as outwardly as she might wish she could…

> _Dear Korra,_

> _I actually think I know the exact shirt you’re talking about. It’s a good one for keeping warm down in the Southern Water Tribe. Keep it, that way you can have a bit of Republic City with you. Take care of it though, I might want that back someday if I need to go back to the South Pole, especially in winter…you might run warm, but not all of us do! I’m surprised it still smells like my perfume, maybe this is a sign that I should wear less of it, at least if it’s sticking around for years after the fact…_

> _Your dad is right, there is a direct line to Ba Sing Se, which has a lot of potential for helping foreign affairs, according to Raiko, but I think the only thing that can help that is getting him out of office. I swear the man lives to make my life more difficult, I mean, he’s the worst. The station itself is mostly the same, a little bit updated, mostly to accommodate the vines and potentially a few more rail lines. I’m glad to have that project mostly under wraps now though, it sounds like there’s some political stuff brewing – Raiko won’t tell me what, but Chief Beifong was telling me that he seems agitated and is being even more annoying than usual, which is saying a lot. Especially coming from her, who can somehow keep a level head around the man. I mentioned your response to her in passing, which I hope is okay, I didn’t mean to, but she asked about you. She asked me to have you say hello to your parents, Katara and Kya._
> 
> _I’m keeping busy, though, even without the train station. I’m working on how to make sure traffic flow stays smooth, but it’s proving more of a challenge than I anticipated, but honestly I’m excited for that._

Asami sent that letter without allowing herself to second guess it. Despite her nerves, it felt good to share it, even if ‘it’ wasn’t even her full feelings. She fully believed that Korra would return to Republic City. She’d already waited two years, and for Korra, she could wait two more.

Couldn’t she?


End file.
